American And TWA To Stop Serving Meals In The Main Cabin Of Most Domestic And Shorter International

20th Sep 2001

FORT WORTH, Texas - By Nov. 1, American Airlines and TWA will stop serving meals in the main cabin on most domestic flights, and in first class on domestic flights of two hours and under. This includes flights to Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean, as well as two-class services to Central and South America. American will continue to provide meals in all cabins of its domestic nonstop two- and three-class transcontinental flights (American Flagship Service), as well as three-class international flights to Europe, Asia and South America (International Flagship Service).

All flights will continue to offer beverage service, along with a beverage accompaniment.

American said the food service changes will generate significant cost savings in response to the airline’s critical financial condition. The changes also will allow the airline to operate more dependably in the face of increased security measures. AA Chairman and CEO Don Carty yesterday declared a state of emergency at American.

“This is an intentionally measured and specific response to our immediate need to reduce costs and to the extraordinary circumstances that now exist within our industry,” said Mike Gunn, American’s executive vice president of marketing and planning. “We are making changes to our domestic food services where it makes the most sense, while leaving untouched the core service features that are the bedrock of American’s service reputation and give our customers the most value.”

For example, Gunn said American will remain the only airline providing more legroom throughout the coach cabin. And American will continue to offer air travelers the convenience of an extensive domestic and international route network; the benefits of its participation in the global oneworld alliance, and the value of AAdvantage®, the industry’s largest and most innovative frequent flyer program.

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“We remain steadfast in our commitment to provide the public with the best travel experience in the industry,” Gunn said, “but we simply cannot ignore the new operating realities that have risen from last week’s tragic events.”

Under the meal-service changes, American will no longer serve meals in the main cabin of domestic flights, except those on nonstop transcontinental routes such as New York-Los Angeles, New York-San Francisco, Boston-Los Angeles, Washington Dulles-Los Angeles and Miami-Los Angeles.

In first class, meal service will be discontinued on domestic flights of two hours and under (Chicago-Nashville, for example), but will still be offered on domestic flights longer than two hours (Chicago-San Jose, Chicago-LaGuardia, Chicago-Boston, and Dallas/Fort Worth- Los Angeles, for instance).